INFLATABLE SAFETY APPARATUS FOR VEHICLE OCCUPANT

• US 3,802,719 A
• Filed: 01/18/1971
• Issued: 04/09/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Incorporated (Zeppelin - Stiftung der Stadt Friedrichshafen)
• Original Assignee: Robert G. Brown
• Inventors: Brown, Robert G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Betts, Kenneth H.
• Application Number:
  US05/107,072
• Time in Patent Office: 1,177 Days
• Field of Search: 280/15AB 244/121
• US Class Current: 280/729
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/23324 Inner walls crating separate compartments, e.g. communicating with vents
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/233 comprising a plurality of individual compartments; comprising two or more bag-like members, one within the other B60R21/232 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/239 characterised by their venting means

Abstract

A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle includes an inflatable confinement means. The confinement means, when in an expanded condition, comprises a series of pressurized compartments located along the path of movement of an occupant of a vehicle during a collision so that relative movement between the occupant and the confinement means results in the occupant penetrating one or more of the series of compartments. There is a pressure differential between the compartments and the compartment which is first encountered by the occupant has the lowest pressure therein, and the compartments encountered thereafter have progressively higher pressures therein. As a result, the rate at which the occupant is decelerated by the confinement means is increased as the occupant penetrates into the confinement means. The confinement means may advantageously be made of a resiliently deformable material which is stretched upon inflation of the confinement means and applies an inward force to effect an expulsion of fluid from the confinement means through blow out patches associated with one or more of the compartments. This expulsion of fluid results in a rapid deflation of the confinement means after the collision.

Claims

1. Safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle, said safety apparatus comprising an expandable confinement means having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition, said confinement means when in said expanded operative condition being effective to restrain movement of an occupant of the vehicle during a collision, said confinement means comprising a series of pressurized compartments located adjacent to each other along the path of movement of the occupant of the vehicle during a collision so that relative movement between the occupant and said confinement means results in said occupant penetrating at least one of the compartments of said series of compartments, and means for providing a flow of fluid for inflating said compartments, the improvement wherein:

at least two of said series of compartments each have a pressure responsive assembly associated therewith for enabling fluid to flow out of the associated compartment upon the occurrence of a respective predetermined pressure within the associated compartment, said pressure responsive assemblies being operable to exhaust fluid at different pressures to provide a variable restraining force on said occupant as said occupant sequentially penetrates said compartments, and said confinement means is made of a resilient material which is stretched upon inflation of said confinement means, said confinement means being urged by said resilient material from said expanded operative condition toward a deflated condition to thereby effect an expulsion of fluid from said confinement means through said pressure responsive assemblies and thereby retract said confinement toward said inoperative condition upon termination of said fluid flow.

2. Safety apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said resilient maTerial is stretched to such an extent by inflation of said confinement to said expanded operative condition that said resilient material effects an expulsion of fluid through said exhaust means at a rate so as to deflate said confinement to a volume of less than twenty-five percent of the volume of said confinement in said expanded operative condition in less than three-tenths of a second after termination of fluid flow.

3. Safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle, said safety apparatus comprising an expandable confinement having a collapsed inoperative condition and an expanded operative condition, said confinement when in said expanded operative condition being effective to restrain movement of an occupant of the vehicle during a collision, said confinement including a series of compartments which are at least partially defined by a series of panels, means for supplying a flow of fluid connected in fluid communication with said confinement for expanding said confinement upon the occurrence of a collision, flow control means for regulating the flow of fluid between said compartments to provide a pressure differential between said compartments while fluid is flowing into said compartments with the pressure in the one of said series of compartments which is furthest from the occupant being the highest and the pressure in each compartment in sequence thereafter progressively less, said flow control means including orifice means formed in said panels for enabling fluid to flow between said compartments at a rate which is lower than the rate of fluid flow from said means for supplying a flow of fluid to provide said pressure differential between said compartments while fluid is flowing into said confinement, whereby the rate at which the occupant is decelerated by the confinement is increased as the depth of penetration of the occupant into the confinement is increased while fluid is flowing into the confinement, and a series of exhaust means each of which is associated with one of said compartments for enabling fluid to escape from the associated one of said compartments when a predetermined fluid pressure is present in the associated compartment to thereby tend to minimize rebound of the occupant from the confinement, at least two of said exhaust means being operable to exhaust fluid in response to different fluid pressures to provide a restraining force on said occupant which varies as said occupant serially engages said compartments, said confinement being made of a resilient material which is stretched upon inflation of said confinement to said expanded operative condition to thereby provide for positive expulsion of fluid from said compartments through said exhaust means under the influence of the force applied by said resilient material whereby said confinement means is retracted toward the inoperative position upon termination of fluid flow.

4. Safety apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said resilient material is stretched to such an extent by inflation of said confinement to said expanded operative condition that said resilient material effects an expulsion of fluid through said exhaust means at a rate so as to deflate said confinement to a volume of less than twenty-five percent of the volume of said confinement in said expanded operative condition in less than three-tenths of a second after termination of fluid flow.